


Read to Me

by TurnUps



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Highschool AU, Modern AU, Reading, robert muchamore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-14
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-01 14:24:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5209184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TurnUps/pseuds/TurnUps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little drabble that is kinda what the title says. Toph is curious about what reading is like and Sokka's the one she bullies into showing her. Could be seen as romantic fluff or sibling fluff. (Highschool AU.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Read to Me

Sokka found it completely lame that he had to 'chaperone' his little sister's sleepover. Sure, their dad was still away with the army, but Katara was three hundred percent more likely to listen to Gram-Gram than to him.

Actually, it wasn't too bad. He'd known Aang ever since he'd started high school and met Katara (she'd almost rammed him into the freezer and the three of them got in trouble for being in the kitchen) and the two were close. Even Toph, who was arrogant and loud, was funny too and Sokka didn't mind her. But he was a senior. And it was a Friday night. He had better things to do. He was sure he had better things to do.

Katara had pulled out a musty DVD and was sat on the floor with Aang, their heads tilted up to the screen in the way that makes your neck hurt. Toph was on the sofa, running her fingers over and over the edge, whist she listened to the film.

After a while, she ventured her foot out and found Sokka's thigh. He jumped slightly, before looking up from his textbook. She was facing his vague direction.

"What are you doing?" she asked, blinking at him with dull eyes. It was surprisingly easy to forget that Toph was blind, since she acted like it wasn't a problem (aside from the occasional stumble).

"I'm studying." Sokka replied, feeling heat appear on his face.

"You really don't have a life, do you?" Toph snickered under her breath.

"I-I have homework over the weekend!" he snapped in his defense. He was kind of glad she couldn't see how bad his poker face was. Toph raised a dark eyebrow, then her gaze dropped slightly, her fingers slowing down over the upholstery.

"What's reading like?" she queried quietly.

Sokka paused, unsure of what to say. It was times like these that everyone tried not to offend her (which usually only made her mad).

"Uhm...At first it's just like hearing the words inside your head, like someone's speaking to you," he scratched his ear and talked slowly. "But it also puts pictures into your head too, so you don't realize you're reading anymore-it feels like you're watching it."

Toph's steely eyes seemed to light up and she sat a little straighter. Sokka realized he'd used the word 'watching' and what that must have meant to her.

"Show me." She demanded, her mouth set in a determined way.

"Don't you want to watch the..." he trailed off, once again realizing his blunder as she narrowed his eyes in the 'idiot' way he'd come to expect. "Oh, yeah, sorry."

"Read to me," she repeated, then, upon hearing him pick up his textbook added. "But not something boring like trigonometry-something good."

Sokka put the book down, muttering that it was geometry anyway and then he stood up.

"Let's go to my room, then." He said. Under different circumstances, inviting a girl to his room would be a big deal, but he couldn't think of Toph like that. Plus, she only saw him as a distant friend anyway.

She followed him, her feet barely leaving the carpet when she walked. Like she was sensing where she was through the ground. Sokka pushed his door open and hastily carved a pathway to the bed. Toph may not be able to see the mess of clothes and textbooks, but if she tripped over a sock or something...things would get embarrassing.

Toph sat down on the bed gingerly, sinking a ways into the mattress. She looked at him expectantly. Sokka pulled the first book he saw off the ground. It was the first Cherub, he'd been obsessed with the series in freshman year and if it was still on the ground...well that showed how much he tidied. It would probably be a book designed for Toph.

"Okay, this is called 'The Recruit-" he began, but she held up a hand.

"I don't need to know that, just skip to the story." She snapped, then crossed her arms and stared at him. Actually, she was staring at the lamp on his bedside table, but he didn't tell her that.

"Fine," Sokka grumbled, then flipped the book open. "James Choke hated Combined Science..."

"Don't we all," Toph muttered. He chose to ignore her.

"It should have been test tubes, jets of gas and sparks flying all over the place, like he'd imagined when he was still at primary school..." He continued, feeling suddenly self-conscious of his voice. Toph had uncrossed her arms and, instead of running her fingers over any surface like she normally did, was sat still as she listened.

She frowned when the other kids started making fun of James' mother and Sokka found himself putting on different voices for the different characters. It was like the way adults tell stories to little kids.

"James wanted to see something other than a grin on Samantha's face. He grabbed Samantha off her stool and bundled her up against the wall, then spun around her around to face him. He froze in shock. Blood was running down Samantha's face. Her cheek had a long cut where it had caught on a nail sticking out of the wall..."

"What the hell kind of science lab has a random nail sticking out of the wall?" Toph asked, bringing her legs up so she was sitting crossed-legged.

"This one, obviously." Sokka tried to justify. "You're not told for the shock factor."

"It makes it harder to picture. Now I've got some health-and-safety nightmare in mind," she complained. There was a moment before she frowned at him. "Well? Carry on."

"James backed away, scared. Samantha cupped her hands over the blood and started bawling her head off."

"Serves her right," Toph scoffed. Sokka rolled his eyes.

"'James Choke, you are in extremely serious trouble!' Miss Voolt shouted..." Sokka's Miss Voolt impression sounded like a cranky granny, which made Toph giggle slightly.

"...He gave Miss Voolt a shove. She toppled backwards, limbs flipping helplessly in the air like a beetle turned upside down."

That was when Toph laughed so violently he had to close his book and wait a full minute before she could even talk again.

"Sorry," she gasped between snickers. "But that image-"

"I know. I remember cracking up the first time too." Sokka felt himself smiling too. She was almost cute.

"Keep going, keep going." She insisted, crawling a little closer. Her pale skin seemed to be glowing in the yellow light of his bedroom, like something inside her was alight. This was probably the first time she'd been read to.

"Well if you stopped interrupting me..." he grumbled, but picked the novel up again.

As they continued, Toph's sarcastic comments dwindled slightly as she got into the story. The only noise in the room was Sokka's voice, but he felt less aware of it. As he had said, there was a point where it didn't even feel like reading anymore.

After a while, there was a soft knock on the door. Toph jumped a mile. He hadn't even realized her head was on his shoulder. Katara poked her head around. Her chestnut coloured hair was messy and looked like it had feathers stuck in it.

"What are you two doing?" she asked.

"Is that one of Gram-Gram's pillows you destroyed?" Sokka ignored her in favour of the real question. The question that would get him in trouble.

"Relax, we'll fix it. Are you coming back, Toph?" she asked. The girl shook her head and her messy bun slipped a few more inches.

"We're reading." She replied simply.

"Oh, ok." Katara looked slightly surprised. "Could you turn the light down though? We can't sleep."

"Sure thing." Sokka stood up as she left, placing the book on the bed. He stretched and checked the time. They'd been reading for a solid two hours. That must explain the ache in his neck and his arms.

He flicked on his bedside lam and the main light off. It seemed like they were enveloped in the soft glow.

Toph had her nose buried in the book. Literally. She sniffed it then felt the pages with her fingers. It can't have been the first time she'd felt one.

"It's amazing," she muttered. "You'd never know from just feeling it that it contained all of that. And all someone did was type one word after the other. They just had to make sense."

"Don't get all psychological on me," Sokka chuckled, flicking her forehead lightly. She laughed, and, for once, it didn't sound like a snigger.

She passed Sokka the book, leaning on him again. As if by instinct, his arm went around her shoulder. He flipped through the pages to find their place.

"You don't have to continue if you don't feel like it," she said in a voice so low he could have imagined it.

"What?" he replied, holding the page with his index finger as he turned to her. They were so close his lips grazed her forehead.

"I can feel your voice starting to break," she explained, speaking up a little more.

"Let's find a good place to stop then," Sokka suggested and she nodded just slightly. He kissed the top of her head before he had time to think about it, so hastily started reading again to stop her from talking.

As time went by, he was aware that his grip on the book had gotten weak and that his eyelids felt heavy. Though he couldn't remember ever falling asleep.

Sokka was never a morning person. But the morning after Katara's sleepover was probably the worst. He'd left the lamp on all night, so there was a suspicious burning smell along the flickering yellow. He had a terrible ache in his neck where he had slumped against the wall as well as his entire right side being numb. He guessed that was because of Toph. She was not as light as she looked and was slumped over his chest.

He reached over and flicked on the lamp, groaning slightly. The sound made Toph stir.

"What time is it," she slurred, giving a loud yawn. She made no sign of moving.

"Like, eight," Sokka replied. His hand was on the small of her back and his index finger could just feel the warm skin underneath her pajama top.

Suddenly, she jumped up, shuffling away from him on the bed. It was like she'd forgotten that he was there.

"What did you do?!" she demanded, her hands searching for the edge of the bed.

"We fell asleep reading, remember?" Sokka asked irritably, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. He'd have to re-do his ponytail later. Toph glared at him suspiciously, then took a breath as she nodded.

"I'm pretty sure I fell asleep before you," she said slowly, sliding off of the bed. Her foot nudged a ring binder and she kicked it away. "So you might have to re-read some to me."

"Re-read some?" Sokka repeated, blinking at her, slightly stunned.

"You'll do this again, won't you?" she demanded, turning to face him with her hands on her hips. There was no way of disagreeing with her when she was like this.

"Sure thing," he nodded. Then he got up as well, massaging his neck. "Now do you want some breakfast?"

"Only if you don't cook it." Toph shot back as she started to walk out. Sokka gave her a playful punch on the shoulder as he followed.

As he was closing his door, his eyes fell on the book again and he found himself smiling.

Books did seem to have some strange power.

**Author's Note:**

> THIS WAS ORIGINALLY ON MY FANFICTION.NET:FANTASYGIRL1999, BUT WAS MOVED OVER HERE FOR ORGANISATIONAL PURPOSES.
> 
> I honestly just used the first book that popped into my mind. Robert Muchamore came to my school once and read the first chapter and for some reason I remember everyone howling with laughter even though it's not that funny - so it popped out here.
> 
> Inspired by Tumblr's compliation of Sokka forgetting Toph is blind and Dekuhornet's Highschool AU deisgns: http://dekuhornet.deviantart.com/
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Aang, or The Cherub Series.


End file.
